We’re about a third of the way through the NBA regular season and well into college basketball’s regular season, so let’s run through another 2025 NBA Mock Draft!

If the season ended today, the Chicago Bulls would be on the outside looking in of the top 10 which would mean the odds suggest they would lose their first-round pick. The Bulls still owe that pick to San Antonio for the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade a few seasons ago. However, if the lottery balls fall in their favor, they can still end up with a top-10 pick.

Outside of Chicago, we’ve had some surprises thus far in the NBA campaign with some unexpected draft lottery odds at this current juncture. Two teams – New Orleans and Philadelphia – find themselves closer to the league’s worst record than being in the playoffs.

While the NBA does use the lottery system, for the sake of this Mock Draft, we’ll be using the current lottery odds via Tankathon to establish the draft order.

How Does the NBA Draft Lottery Work

Following the conclusion of the season, the NBA uses a lottery system to decide the first 14 picks in the draft order.

Before we look at the draft order, here’s how the NBA Draft Lottery system works:

• Eligible Teams: The 14 teams that do not qualify for the NBA playoffs are eligible to participate in the draft lottery. This includes teams that make the Play-In Tournament but don’t advance past the Play-In Tournament.
• NBA Draft Lottery Odds: The teams with the worst records have higher chances of winning a top pick. The teams with the three worst records have the highest chance – a 14% chance – while the odds incrementally decrease for teams with better records among the non-playoff teams.
• Ping Pong Balls: Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 will be placed in a lottery machine. There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations are assigned to the 14 participating lottery teams. Those three with the highest odds will be given 140 combinations each – aka the most combinations.
• Lottery Drawing: Finally, drawings are conducted for the first four picks of the NBA Draft. The remaining non-playoff teams are then ordered based on their regular-season records, with the team with the worst record picking fifth, followed by the team with the next worst record, and so on.

Also, the NBA shares the footage of the lottery drawing after each draft. You can watch the 2023 procedure here.



2025 NBA Mock Draft

1. Washington Wizards: Cooper Flagg – F – Duke
2. New Orleans Pelicans: Dylan Harper – G – Rutgers
3. Utah Jazz: Ace Bailey – G/F – Rutgers
4. Toronto Raptors: VJ Edgecombe – G – Baylor
5. Charlotte Hornets: Egor Demin – G – BYU
6. Portland Trail Blazers: Tre Johnson – G – Texas
7. Oklahoma City Thunder (via PHI): Kon Knueppel – G/F – Duke
8. Detroit Pistons: Khaman Maluach – C – Duke
9. Brooklyn Nets: Kasparas Jakucionis – G – Illinois
10. Sacramento Kings: Derik Queen – C – Maryland
11. San Antonio Spurs (via CHI): Liam McNeeley – G/F
12. San Antonio Spurs: Nolan Traore – G – France – 18 Years Old
13. Golden State Warriors: Asa Newell – F – Georgia
14. Houston Rockets (via PHX): Boogie Fland – G – Arkansas
15. Indiana Pacers: Collin Murray-Boyles – F/C – South Carolina
16. San Antonio Spurs (via ATL): Drake Powell – G/F – North Carolina
17. Utah Jazz (via MIN): Will Riley – G/F – Illinois
18. Oklahoma City Thunder (via MIA): Adou Thiero – F – Arkansas
19. Atlanta Hawks (via LAL): Johni Broome – F/C – Auburn
20. Orlando Magic (via DEN): Hugo Gonzalez – F – Spain
21. Brooklyn Nets (via MIL): Noa Essengue – F – Germany
22. Oklahoma City Thunder (via LAC): Labaron Philon – G – Alabama
23. Orlando Magic: Alex Karaban – F – UConn – 21 Years Old
24. Dallas Mavericks: Ian Jackson – G – North Carolina
25. Brooklyn Nets (via NYK): JT Toppin – F – Texas Tech
26. Brooklyn Nets (via HOU): Carter Bryant – F – Arizona
27. Memphis Grizzlies: Ben Saraf – G – Israel
28. Boston Celtics: Kam Jones – G – Marquette
29. Los Angeles Clippers (via OKC): Mackenzie Mgbako – F – Indiana
30. Utah Jazz (via CLE): Tyrese Proctor – G – Duke